RIPON - Authorities used tear gas to force a suspected gunman out of a propane tanker truck late Wednesday night, ending a SWAT team standoff that snarled freeway traffic for hours, police said.

The man crashed his car into a propane tank, shot a person with a pellet gun, pointed the weapon at police and was shot by officers before barricading himself in the cab of the truck, authorities said.

When the man surrendered more than four hours later, authorities found an Airsoft replica handgun and other weapons, said Sgt. Jodie Estarziau, a spokesman for the Manteca Police Department.

The suspected gunman was still in a hospital receiving treatment for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound Thursday, Estarziau said. His name was not released.

Police initially responded to a report that a vehicle had crashed into a propane tank about 6:25 p.m. at Van Unen Miersma Propane Inc. at 20504 South 99 Frontage Road in Ripon, near Moffat Boulevard and Austin Road.

When they arrived, authorities located a victim suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, Estarziau said. They later determined the man had been shot with the Airsoft gun, which was a replica of a semiautomatic handgun, Estarziau said.

The gunman fled into the cab of the tanker truck and barricaded himself inside. The man pointed the weapon at authorities, Estarziau said.

Two officers from the Manteca Police Department and two from the California Highway Patrol fired shots at the man, hitting him at least once, Estarziau said. None of the officers was injured, and their names have not been released.

Members of the Manteca Police Department, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, a Stanislaus County SWAT Team and the CHP converged on the scene.

Given the possibility of more gunfire and the presence of flammable propane, authorities closed northbound and southbound lanes of Highway 99 for more than three hours, leaving hundreds of motorists stranded, Estarziau said.

Authorities established a dialogue with the gunman, but he refused to come out of the truck, Estarziau said. The SWAT team later launched nonflammable tear gas into the cab of the truck, forcing the man to surrender and bringing an end to the standoff at about 10:40 p.m.